Jerry’s account of the massage: Well when I got over to the sports center for my massage I had in my mind a nice relaxing massage with calming music and a fan blowing, right? Wrong, It was this Russian guy with the hardest fingers I have ever felt, he must do finger pushups half the day to be that strong. The room was pretty hot with a massage table and a single towel. I guess I wasn’t suppose to get under the towel, because when he came in he motioned for me to get on top of the towel. He started with my back, on either side of my spine, at first I thought he was trying to see what my spine bones felt like because he was pressing so hard, but I soon figured out it was the relaxing part of the massage. I tried to relax, but it was kind of uncomfortable. I started thinking about when my wife got a Thai massage one time, where this lady poked her all over her body really hard, it was kind of what it was like. It was like when somebody grabs your collar muscle and squeezes real hard, well that was his touch all the time. Once he got done with my spine he jumped up on my back and started cracking my back every few inches by jumping up and down with his feet. A few thoughts raced through my mind about what if I die, how will they ever find me. Once he was done with my spine he rubbed the sides of my back till they were burning hot. Then to my legs, I’m slightly ticklish, so I tensed up for most of the time, trying not to laugh, it hurt so much it was funny. I didn’t know my legs had so many sore spot in them. I only yelped a few times on the first leg, the other side I knew what to expect so that was better; I knew I would at least survive. At the end of each leg massage he would bend by leg at the knee backward all the way back, kind of like the splits, I squawked a few times, but it didn’t seem to stop him from doing it. I was sweating from head to toe by the time he was done with my legs. Then he did my arms which was not so bad, it was bearable. Then he did my face, oh my, that was weird, at one point I thought he was going to somehow pop my eyeballs out, or so I thought, so funny. Then he cracked my neck 3-4 times and then pulled on my arms and legs till I thought they were going to come off. I was so glad when it was over, It was really relaxing to know that I had made it, no broken bones or broken neck. Nothing was even dislocated. My kink in my back is gone, so he did work that out, or actually I think he scared all the bad chi out of my body :) So that was my Kaz massage, Jerry
*I tried to find a picture of Ewana nd Charley getting their massages in Almaty... but nothin'!! - c*
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Bring on Day 14!!! (day 13)
YAY!!!! Day 13 is over!!!!! So far so good! Nothing scary happened to us… yet. :) So today we went over to the babyhouse to play again… we were so busy just playing that we forgot to take any pictures!!! I panicked when we left and I realized that so we said we will get some this afternoon… well… guess what we forgot this afternoon too!!!! Can you believe that!!!!?? Isn’t that horrible!!!! Tomorrow we will try to make up for it!
Anthony was kind of a mess today… his rash looks itchy, dry and reddish… and he now had a bug bite right on his little nose! He was also easily fussy too! We played with a ball, and of course the other toys we have… we looked at the photo album and I told him all about the people in it. Jerry actually played with Alex for quite a while… maybe that is why we didn’t take pictures… we were both occupied! :) We practiced sitting up some more. He doesn’t seem to hate it as much as he used to. He likes to stand up a lot actually… He is definitely doing a lot better! He relaxes his arms and legs so much more now and he smiles so much easier. I always put his arms up and down like he is flying and then I tickle him under his arms a little… he usually smiles for that. We played patty cake and sang the marching ant song again… no big laughter today for that one though! We read him a couple books… God Loves You, by Kathleen Long Bostrom, he likes that one… he always wants to kick his feet when we read that one… We have a little toy that has a bunch of songs and baby “games” like patty cake and this little pig went to the market on it… It also has the Wheels on the bus… he always goes nuts kicking his legs when that one comes on! He seems to like the fun music! Good thing because we like to listen to those “Little People” cds, that we find in Wal-mart next to the baby supplies, while we ride in the car. He will probably like dancing as much as Alex does… Alex is Mr. Rhythm! Everywhere we go around here that has music with a beat, we always look and see Alex bobbing his head to the beat! People are always smiling at him and watching him “dance.” It will be fun watching what Anthony becomes! He seems so neutral sometimes here, but maybe it is just because we have only been with him for a few hours and it is the same time of the day every day… Hopefully soon we will get him full time…
When Anthony goes back to his room, he doesn’t seem to really care that much, but he does watch us as he leaves. I wonder what is going on in his little head? I am not sure what a 7 month old thinks about at all, so who knows!
We are not expecting to have precourt before the end of the week, but we are praying that they decide to have us go through the system fast for once… It would sure be nice to have him for a few days before we need to leave Uralsk. Last time… we got Alex in the evening, and we left the next morning on a flight at 8 am! Poor kid! He really had no idea what was going on!!!!
We went to McJohn’s for lunch… they have the funniest stuff… we had a cheese sandwich and a frise sandwich – yes spelled like that! It is a sandwich with fries in it! The put coleslaw in their sandwiches! It is so funny… they really aren’t bad though just funny! We also tried a Strawberry Chick.. as in strawberry shake… haha! They crack me up!!!! The strawberry was really good… not at all the “shake” consistency of the US shakes, but tasted very good… and it was colder than Jerry’s chocolate one! The chocolate one had hardly any chocolate in it…
After that we went to the Bazaar for a while… it was so hot… and then Alex had to go potty… Jerry finally found one in a shopping center next to the bazaar. So went in there and cruised the circle… it was where they sell lots of fabric! They had a few Kazakh looking vests and stuff, but nothing that really caught our eye today… There was some beautiful fabric though!! We finished the bazaar, didn’t buy anything, and went to the Souvenir shop. We bought a doll for someone and Jerry bough a cow bank… like a piggy bank… We may go back, but I was so hot in there I couldn’t even think! Then we checked the time and had to practically run home to be home in time for Olga and Misha to come and take us to the babyhouse!
Anthony was quite sober this afternoon. So we played and cooled off… We read the God Loves You book and part of another one called… Do You Know? All about interesting things like how long blue whales are and the smallest animals in the world and the largest trees and stuff like that… Then we flew Anthony like an airplane a little bit. Then we did all kinds of other games and songs and took NO pictures!!! Then toward the end we snuggled him and he got fussy about it… little squirt! He was so tired! I almost had him to sleep, but we are near the road so truck and cars are always going by, and he couldn’t quite close his eyes! He rubs his forehead when he is sleepy… not sure if that is him trying to stay awake or if that is his way of falling asleep! No wonder he has a rash on his head!!!! I hope that goes away once he gets a little AC!
So we came home and Alex had to take a nap, so we all took little naps! Then Jerry went for his massage… One hour – 1500 tenge. Have any of you ever watched “The Long Way Round” with Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman? We were wondering if it would be anything like that… well…. It was! Hahahahaha!!!! Poor Jerry… he said if he had actually been sore, he would have died! He said it was so hard, the guy was pulling on him and cracking things and walking on him. I asked him if he yelped and moaned and all… he said a couple times… but it didn’t do any good because the guy couldn’t understand him! I was laughing pretty hard! I asked if he is going to get him another one before we leave…… he shook his head, breathed out, and said, “noooooooo!” Hahahaha! So funny! So if anyone is brave enough they will have to try it too… Just ask Olga about the Gym with the massages, when you get here!
I wish I had a picture of the massage to share!!!! I think that Bill and Josh would be up for one, should they ever come back…
On another note… this has been a life-saver… well, you know what I mean! http://www.kwikpoint.com/consumer_translators/kits.html we just point to the stuff we want to communicate and people know what we want… we use this a lot at the restaurants and shopping… That was if you can’t quite learn enough Russian, you can still get what you want… and they understand! Holly had it on our last trip and we just had to get it for this one… it is nicely laminated so, we will be able to use it for years to come… in places like China, and where ever else we decide to go! ;)
Day 14 tomorrow!!!!! Bring it on!!!!!
Anthony was kind of a mess today… his rash looks itchy, dry and reddish… and he now had a bug bite right on his little nose! He was also easily fussy too! We played with a ball, and of course the other toys we have… we looked at the photo album and I told him all about the people in it. Jerry actually played with Alex for quite a while… maybe that is why we didn’t take pictures… we were both occupied! :) We practiced sitting up some more. He doesn’t seem to hate it as much as he used to. He likes to stand up a lot actually… He is definitely doing a lot better! He relaxes his arms and legs so much more now and he smiles so much easier. I always put his arms up and down like he is flying and then I tickle him under his arms a little… he usually smiles for that. We played patty cake and sang the marching ant song again… no big laughter today for that one though! We read him a couple books… God Loves You, by Kathleen Long Bostrom, he likes that one… he always wants to kick his feet when we read that one… We have a little toy that has a bunch of songs and baby “games” like patty cake and this little pig went to the market on it… It also has the Wheels on the bus… he always goes nuts kicking his legs when that one comes on! He seems to like the fun music! Good thing because we like to listen to those “Little People” cds, that we find in Wal-mart next to the baby supplies, while we ride in the car. He will probably like dancing as much as Alex does… Alex is Mr. Rhythm! Everywhere we go around here that has music with a beat, we always look and see Alex bobbing his head to the beat! People are always smiling at him and watching him “dance.” It will be fun watching what Anthony becomes! He seems so neutral sometimes here, but maybe it is just because we have only been with him for a few hours and it is the same time of the day every day… Hopefully soon we will get him full time…
When Anthony goes back to his room, he doesn’t seem to really care that much, but he does watch us as he leaves. I wonder what is going on in his little head? I am not sure what a 7 month old thinks about at all, so who knows!
We are not expecting to have precourt before the end of the week, but we are praying that they decide to have us go through the system fast for once… It would sure be nice to have him for a few days before we need to leave Uralsk. Last time… we got Alex in the evening, and we left the next morning on a flight at 8 am! Poor kid! He really had no idea what was going on!!!!
We went to McJohn’s for lunch… they have the funniest stuff… we had a cheese sandwich and a frise sandwich – yes spelled like that! It is a sandwich with fries in it! The put coleslaw in their sandwiches! It is so funny… they really aren’t bad though just funny! We also tried a Strawberry Chick.. as in strawberry shake… haha! They crack me up!!!! The strawberry was really good… not at all the “shake” consistency of the US shakes, but tasted very good… and it was colder than Jerry’s chocolate one! The chocolate one had hardly any chocolate in it…
After that we went to the Bazaar for a while… it was so hot… and then Alex had to go potty… Jerry finally found one in a shopping center next to the bazaar. So went in there and cruised the circle… it was where they sell lots of fabric! They had a few Kazakh looking vests and stuff, but nothing that really caught our eye today… There was some beautiful fabric though!! We finished the bazaar, didn’t buy anything, and went to the Souvenir shop. We bought a doll for someone and Jerry bough a cow bank… like a piggy bank… We may go back, but I was so hot in there I couldn’t even think! Then we checked the time and had to practically run home to be home in time for Olga and Misha to come and take us to the babyhouse!
Anthony was quite sober this afternoon. So we played and cooled off… We read the God Loves You book and part of another one called… Do You Know? All about interesting things like how long blue whales are and the smallest animals in the world and the largest trees and stuff like that… Then we flew Anthony like an airplane a little bit. Then we did all kinds of other games and songs and took NO pictures!!! Then toward the end we snuggled him and he got fussy about it… little squirt! He was so tired! I almost had him to sleep, but we are near the road so truck and cars are always going by, and he couldn’t quite close his eyes! He rubs his forehead when he is sleepy… not sure if that is him trying to stay awake or if that is his way of falling asleep! No wonder he has a rash on his head!!!! I hope that goes away once he gets a little AC!
So we came home and Alex had to take a nap, so we all took little naps! Then Jerry went for his massage… One hour – 1500 tenge. Have any of you ever watched “The Long Way Round” with Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman? We were wondering if it would be anything like that… well…. It was! Hahahahaha!!!! Poor Jerry… he said if he had actually been sore, he would have died! He said it was so hard, the guy was pulling on him and cracking things and walking on him. I asked him if he yelped and moaned and all… he said a couple times… but it didn’t do any good because the guy couldn’t understand him! I was laughing pretty hard! I asked if he is going to get him another one before we leave…… he shook his head, breathed out, and said, “noooooooo!” Hahahaha! So funny! So if anyone is brave enough they will have to try it too… Just ask Olga about the Gym with the massages, when you get here!
I wish I had a picture of the massage to share!!!! I think that Bill and Josh would be up for one, should they ever come back…
On another note… this has been a life-saver… well, you know what I mean! http://www.kwikpoint.com/consumer_translators/kits.html we just point to the stuff we want to communicate and people know what we want… we use this a lot at the restaurants and shopping… That was if you can’t quite learn enough Russian, you can still get what you want… and they understand! Holly had it on our last trip and we just had to get it for this one… it is nicely laminated so, we will be able to use it for years to come… in places like China, and where ever else we decide to go! ;)
Day 14 tomorrow!!!!! Bring it on!!!!!
The Boys' Room.
Here is a picture of the boys’ room before we left home… I have to locate letters for Anthony’s side of the room, that look good and is the right size. It’s a bummer that I couldn’t find them before we left… I think I was mostly in doubt that we would get a boy… maybe we would get 2… I don’t know what my problem was… I didn’t put together his High chair either… but I am guessing he will not need it for a day or two, he can sit in Alex’s if he can even sit… :) I still have to order his carseat… I suppose I should get on that! They no longer have the cover that I like… I guess I will just have to suck it up and pick another one…
I can not wait to see Anthony in his fancy bed and riding in his fancy carseat!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Giggles and Fussing! (day 12)
All in one day!!!!
So today was pretty much like any other day in Uralsk… although we did have a storm here this morning… which cooled things off for a while! Our morning visit was nice a cool outside. Anthony was in a pretty good mood… we did some exercises and played a bunch! We sang songs and he laughed at us… We played with stacking cups and a ball. He really loves knocking over the stacking cups already… maybe he is just trying to grab them and always knocks them over… I don’t know! We let him scoot around a bit on his tummy, but there were no rugs today, since it rained… they took them in, so we didn’t make him scoot too much! We made him sit up a while as usual, I think he is getting better. Today he came to us with a bunch of, what I assume is bug bites… they look almost like pimples! Poor baby! I put some antibiotic ointment on them… His heat rash on his head looked worse today that even before! Ugh! I don’t understand why he has it on his forehead! He has it on his elbow, and under his chin… those I understand… but the forehead…? Unless he sleeps on his face? Maybe? Who knows… that is why we just need to get him!
We came immediately home and Alex slept for over 2 hours! He was tired from last night playing!
Then it was back to the babyhouse for more playing… Today a cat came by and plopped down by us under the awning. She was very sweet and lay there purring… Anthony was obsessed with her though! He HAD to be looking at her! He was driving me nuts! He wouldn’t play with us or anything! So finally I let him pet her! His first cat petting! He of course loved it and so did the kitty! The kitty then thought that was invitation to come on our sheet and she rubbed past us a couple of time and the plopped down in Jerry’s lap! Jerry of course was petting her and she was loving it! Can you tell we miss our kitties!? I sang the entire song “The Ants go Marching” to Anthony and bounced him up and down on my knees at the end of each verse when It says boom, boom, boom! He was laughing so hard, I think he snorted once! As the song went on he laughed harder and harder until Jerry got out the video camera… typically he stopped laughing so hard… we still got some good laughs though… we will try it again tomorrow. It was grand! Somehow we did not take very many pictures today… I guess we were too busy laughing! Toward the end, Anthony was getting tired so I decided to lay him back in my arms and let him calm down… his nap was next so… Well… he did not want that… so he started to fuss, and throw his fit… so I immediately laid him down on the floor next to me, said “no!” and looked away… he wondered what happened but he stopped crying… he tried to roll over and play, but I put my hand on his tummy so he couldn’t and he was kind of mad… but I said let’s try again, so I picked him up and laid him in my arms so he could just relax and suck on his thumb… he started the fit again… so I put him on the floor again, said no! and looked away, while holding my hand on his stomach… he stopped fast! I picked him up again and this time, no fits… so we just snuggled him and I kissed his cheek and he would laugh even with his thumb in his mouth! He likes to touch our faces… we put his hand on our cheeks and say “ mama, dada” so jerry came closer and we put his hand back and forth to our faces saying mama and dada. He just smiles and likes to feel our cheeks. It was so nice to just be still and snuggle with him. Once I make him just calm down he seems to like it, too. He definitely was very sleepy… his beautiful little eyes were drooping! Soon we had to send him away… Alex played with us for a while and then went off to play with Olga and Misha, I guess!
We stopped at the book store for a little bit and found a couple books and some of the new maps of Uralsk! Then we came home, played for a little while and walked to the Dixie Pub for dinner again! The Atrium now has water!!!! Yay!!! We bought a gallon and some cereal and OJ and walked home… stopping by the gym for jerry to schedule a massage for tomorrow!
We spent the rest of the evening at home, working, journaling and reading BabyWise 2!!
Today was the end of Day 12 of Visitation!!! Only 2 more days until we can apply to the court for a court date!!! WooHoo!!!
So today was pretty much like any other day in Uralsk… although we did have a storm here this morning… which cooled things off for a while! Our morning visit was nice a cool outside. Anthony was in a pretty good mood… we did some exercises and played a bunch! We sang songs and he laughed at us… We played with stacking cups and a ball. He really loves knocking over the stacking cups already… maybe he is just trying to grab them and always knocks them over… I don’t know! We let him scoot around a bit on his tummy, but there were no rugs today, since it rained… they took them in, so we didn’t make him scoot too much! We made him sit up a while as usual, I think he is getting better. Today he came to us with a bunch of, what I assume is bug bites… they look almost like pimples! Poor baby! I put some antibiotic ointment on them… His heat rash on his head looked worse today that even before! Ugh! I don’t understand why he has it on his forehead! He has it on his elbow, and under his chin… those I understand… but the forehead…? Unless he sleeps on his face? Maybe? Who knows… that is why we just need to get him!
We came immediately home and Alex slept for over 2 hours! He was tired from last night playing!
Then it was back to the babyhouse for more playing… Today a cat came by and plopped down by us under the awning. She was very sweet and lay there purring… Anthony was obsessed with her though! He HAD to be looking at her! He was driving me nuts! He wouldn’t play with us or anything! So finally I let him pet her! His first cat petting! He of course loved it and so did the kitty! The kitty then thought that was invitation to come on our sheet and she rubbed past us a couple of time and the plopped down in Jerry’s lap! Jerry of course was petting her and she was loving it! Can you tell we miss our kitties!? I sang the entire song “The Ants go Marching” to Anthony and bounced him up and down on my knees at the end of each verse when It says boom, boom, boom! He was laughing so hard, I think he snorted once! As the song went on he laughed harder and harder until Jerry got out the video camera… typically he stopped laughing so hard… we still got some good laughs though… we will try it again tomorrow. It was grand! Somehow we did not take very many pictures today… I guess we were too busy laughing! Toward the end, Anthony was getting tired so I decided to lay him back in my arms and let him calm down… his nap was next so… Well… he did not want that… so he started to fuss, and throw his fit… so I immediately laid him down on the floor next to me, said “no!” and looked away… he wondered what happened but he stopped crying… he tried to roll over and play, but I put my hand on his tummy so he couldn’t and he was kind of mad… but I said let’s try again, so I picked him up and laid him in my arms so he could just relax and suck on his thumb… he started the fit again… so I put him on the floor again, said no! and looked away, while holding my hand on his stomach… he stopped fast! I picked him up again and this time, no fits… so we just snuggled him and I kissed his cheek and he would laugh even with his thumb in his mouth! He likes to touch our faces… we put his hand on our cheeks and say “ mama, dada” so jerry came closer and we put his hand back and forth to our faces saying mama and dada. He just smiles and likes to feel our cheeks. It was so nice to just be still and snuggle with him. Once I make him just calm down he seems to like it, too. He definitely was very sleepy… his beautiful little eyes were drooping! Soon we had to send him away… Alex played with us for a while and then went off to play with Olga and Misha, I guess!
We stopped at the book store for a little bit and found a couple books and some of the new maps of Uralsk! Then we came home, played for a little while and walked to the Dixie Pub for dinner again! The Atrium now has water!!!! Yay!!! We bought a gallon and some cereal and OJ and walked home… stopping by the gym for jerry to schedule a massage for tomorrow!
We spent the rest of the evening at home, working, journaling and reading BabyWise 2!!
Today was the end of Day 12 of Visitation!!! Only 2 more days until we can apply to the court for a court date!!! WooHoo!!!
Stacking Cups and Bug Bites!
Here is the latest adopted boy from Uralsk! Askhat! He will be moving to Belgium, with him Mom, Dad and big Sister! We had played last night at the indoor playground with them.
Knocking over the stcking cups!
Just playing with dad!
Just looking cute with my bug bites and hat!
Wanting to fuss!
Momma talking me out of fussing! :)
Watching a "Baby Einstein" in some cute pjs! 
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Sweet Baby Day. (day 11)
I am rebelling on my journaling tonight! I am so tired and it takes me so long to write everything I can think of from our day… so here is a brief!
It was hot again today… at least 91! Although it feels so much hotter than that! We of course played outside under the awning… Anthony was in a good mood today. He didn’t really get fussy, even when we made him exercise a bunch and sit up a bunch! It was just a nice relaxing visit for morning and afternoon. Anthony was actually very sweet this afternoon! He smiled and laughed a few times and we just played and exercised a little… Alex hung with us a little bit. Anthony actually let me hold him on his back for a while and just sucked his thumb while I cradled him in my arms! That was soooo nice! He’s so small when we do that! He is really a baby!!!! :)
After our afternoon visit we went to the indoor playground! You pay 200 tenge per half hour for your kid to play in the room full of bouncing, blow up slides and stuff. The exchange rate is currently about 120 tenge per dollar, so it is just about $1.50 per half hour! We let Alex play for an hour! We met our Belgian friends Birgit & Erik there as well as new friends from Canada! There are 2 couples from Canada her as well! One couple just adopted and 8 year old girl! She is Russian and beautiful! Very small for her age, but bright and happy! The other couple just got here a few days ago and found a baby boy at Babyhouse 2 where we are visiting and where Alex is from! They have a daughter from Petro who is about three and a half. So the kids played a bunch and then we adults talked and then most of us decided to stay and actually eat dinner there. They have a full restaurant in there! It was funny next to each item on the menu is the size of the dish in weight and how many minutes it takes to prepare that dish! We thought that was rather hilarious! The food was fine… they send ketchup with Jerry’s spaghetti, and they forgot Alex’s fries, but what we did get was pretty good tasting! Although we left still feeling a bit hungry. Next time we are going to try their pizza… We walked home… it wasn’t too long, but long enough. We were all pretty tired though, so we are trying to go to bed earlier.
It was hot again today… at least 91! Although it feels so much hotter than that! We of course played outside under the awning… Anthony was in a good mood today. He didn’t really get fussy, even when we made him exercise a bunch and sit up a bunch! It was just a nice relaxing visit for morning and afternoon. Anthony was actually very sweet this afternoon! He smiled and laughed a few times and we just played and exercised a little… Alex hung with us a little bit. Anthony actually let me hold him on his back for a while and just sucked his thumb while I cradled him in my arms! That was soooo nice! He’s so small when we do that! He is really a baby!!!! :)
After our afternoon visit we went to the indoor playground! You pay 200 tenge per half hour for your kid to play in the room full of bouncing, blow up slides and stuff. The exchange rate is currently about 120 tenge per dollar, so it is just about $1.50 per half hour! We let Alex play for an hour! We met our Belgian friends Birgit & Erik there as well as new friends from Canada! There are 2 couples from Canada her as well! One couple just adopted and 8 year old girl! She is Russian and beautiful! Very small for her age, but bright and happy! The other couple just got here a few days ago and found a baby boy at Babyhouse 2 where we are visiting and where Alex is from! They have a daughter from Petro who is about three and a half. So the kids played a bunch and then we adults talked and then most of us decided to stay and actually eat dinner there. They have a full restaurant in there! It was funny next to each item on the menu is the size of the dish in weight and how many minutes it takes to prepare that dish! We thought that was rather hilarious! The food was fine… they send ketchup with Jerry’s spaghetti, and they forgot Alex’s fries, but what we did get was pretty good tasting! Although we left still feeling a bit hungry. Next time we are going to try their pizza… We walked home… it wasn’t too long, but long enough. We were all pretty tired though, so we are trying to go to bed earlier.
Play Play Play!
Mr. Goof-off!
Can you see my heat rash all over my little head!
I was attacked!
See how squishy my cheeks are!!?
Alex, Oxana, and Darya! All from Kazakhstan!
Can you see my heat rash all over my little head!
I was attacked!
See how squishy my cheeks are!!?
Alex, Oxana, and Darya! All from Kazakhstan! 
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Undies and Mad Anthony!! (day 10)
When we got there this morning, there was the most precious site coming around the side of the babyhouse! When the little munchkins got outside, their caregivers usually strip them down to their undies… well… Jerry was able to get a shot of them! I don’t usually post pictures of the other kids, but since this is very private, I couldn’t resist! It was so adorable! I just want to snatch them up and love on them! They need mommies and daddies! So I will post this picture with the others!
Oh my! Oh my! Oh my! Today Anthony actually screamed! He was kind of fussy anyways this morning… he did not really want to do his exercises to help him sit up! So he was resisting that and fussin’ a little, well… then it happened! He fell over so fast I don’t even know how it happened, but I saw him just thunk his little head on the floor… and since we are only on a sheet, there isn’t any padding there from the wood! I am sure it hurt a little, but mostly I think it made him mad! Remember Alex… he never even peeped when he got hurt!
Yeah, well this kid is different! He just let out girly blood curdling screams! I was shocked. Of course he didn’t start screaming until I picked him up and was snuggling him… but he just kept going, he would not be soothed! Then he would take another breath and scream again! Oh brother! Of course if you have done this before that is the first rule while you are bonding… you never let them cry or caregivers will be coming to see what you did wrong! So i was doing everything I could to distract him, but it didn’t really work…. He just was mad! He only had a couple tears too, but this disaster lasted probably 5 minutes! Seemed like an eternity!!! It was awful… and our instinct is to put him down and let him scream until he feels better, but here while we are visiting, we can’t do that! We have to appease him! The rest of the visit was disastrous! He knows already that all he has to do it threaten to scream and he will get what he wants… sort of… it is usually not when he wants something but rather when he doesn’t want something… like he is tired of the ball sitting a certain way or whatever… he just starts squawking! Oh boy! He is going to be surprised when he comes home! Haha! He’ll be fine! We were actually glad to send him back to the caregivers so he could go to bed this morning!!! :)
When we got there this morning and set up our play area Jerry set up the tripod and put the camera on it… Alex was right at it! He looked so cute bending down to look through the viewfinder… we showed him how to wake a picture by pushing down the button part way to focus it and then pushing it the rest of the way to take the picture! Sadly, he took about 20 of them and they were all bad… it was on the wrong setting! Anyways, we took video of it, but since he had the camera, we have no pictures of it! J When we get home we will try it again, and use Jerry’s camera to photograph our budding photographer!
I remember when Alex figured out that if he “cried” we responded… Alex would do it just to see what we would do, he would faker cry (one cry) and then stop and look at us. After the 3rd time… Jerry and I just thought it was hilarious and would laugh at him… He kept trying it for a few days, but soon stopped it… today Alex still does the same stuff… he tests us over and over and over! It is so critical that we are consistent… Alex has even started begging “please!” when he wants something when we say no… Its going to be fun around here in another week or so! Ha!
We just came home today… it was SOOOOOO hot outside that even the breeze was like it was coming from the hot hair dryer! Just sitting there playing/holding Anthony, I had sweat rolling down my back! Yuck!!!! It was the same this afternoon even with more of a breeze! Ugh! We were soooo very happy to come home to our AC unit! We made pierogis for lunch with spaghetti sauce. Then we had a few M&Ms! Yesterday we bought a little bag of them at the market yesterday. They are so funny! They taste the same but they are fatter… more the shape of a skittle! It’s so funny to see the packages in Russian! We mostly rested… I read a few Bible stories to Alex and then he watched a Veggie-tale on forgiveness and being kind to one another. The next thing we knew it was time to go again!
When we got to the babyhouse there was another couple just leaving. They are from Ontario Canada! I forgot their names, but we will see them again tomorrow and we will chat some more. They are visiting a baby boy and have a daughter from Petro already! So that is neat! This was day 3 for them.
Anthony was in a much better mood this afternoon. He still tried to be fussy a few times but we decided that we would just say “No!” and take him away from the situation so he couldn’t fuss at it anymore! We had to do it about 3 times I think! Little squirt! We made him sit some more… we prop him in front of one of us, between our legs and give him some toys. That way he can’t really fall over again. he can wobble though, but he tries to stay up so he can play. Alex fell again, shocker! He scraped his knee today! He was fine, but he needed some attention! Soon he was off running and playing again! he went for a walk with Olga and Misha to the “chocolate” store… he brought us a drink! :) We tried the baby puffs again today… he loves them but every time we put one in him mouth he gets a horrible look on his face, like he is going to cry… but soon he has his little bird mouth open again and he is leaning forward for another one! We have been singing songs and making Anthony move to the songs a bunch lately… he is still so stiff, but I think he is starting to loosen up. If he’s not mad us for making him do things he doesn’t want to!! Ha! It has been so hot out that we take Anthony’s pants and socks off. So he goes around in his onsie! It’s so cute! He has such little legs! At least they seem little to us! He will probably be monster size next to Dylan though, when we get home! Today when Anthony went back in, Olga said we did not need to put his pants back on, so off he went, little legs sticking out!
We came home, and it took us quite a while to cool off! Alex took a nap. At about 6:30 we went to dinner at the Dixie Pub in the atrium. It was really good! We ordered Pesto and a Burrito without the beef. It was very tasty! Different than what we have at home, but very good! They also have Crust Rings of Squid!!!! *shutter* sounds gross to me… but somebody must like it. :) They now have a menu in English, hilarious English, but English! That was nice! We will probably go back!
We think Luba might come over tonight… not sure!
For those who might be interested… I have now taken over 20,000 photos with my camera that I have had for 4 years! Last time we were in Kaz I took over 4000 pictures on the trip, this time I suspect it will be slightly less, since we probably will not go to the museum and take all the pictures there that we took, or take all those pictures at the layover in Atrau, when we thought we were in Uralsk, because we didn’t understand the people over the intercom on the plane… We will see! :) So far I have taken just over a thousand pictures… we are just about on target! Hee hee hee. Although this time I have 2 cute little boys to photograph!
More tomorrow!
Oh my! Oh my! Oh my! Today Anthony actually screamed! He was kind of fussy anyways this morning… he did not really want to do his exercises to help him sit up! So he was resisting that and fussin’ a little, well… then it happened! He fell over so fast I don’t even know how it happened, but I saw him just thunk his little head on the floor… and since we are only on a sheet, there isn’t any padding there from the wood! I am sure it hurt a little, but mostly I think it made him mad! Remember Alex… he never even peeped when he got hurt!
Yeah, well this kid is different! He just let out girly blood curdling screams! I was shocked. Of course he didn’t start screaming until I picked him up and was snuggling him… but he just kept going, he would not be soothed! Then he would take another breath and scream again! Oh brother! Of course if you have done this before that is the first rule while you are bonding… you never let them cry or caregivers will be coming to see what you did wrong! So i was doing everything I could to distract him, but it didn’t really work…. He just was mad! He only had a couple tears too, but this disaster lasted probably 5 minutes! Seemed like an eternity!!! It was awful… and our instinct is to put him down and let him scream until he feels better, but here while we are visiting, we can’t do that! We have to appease him! The rest of the visit was disastrous! He knows already that all he has to do it threaten to scream and he will get what he wants… sort of… it is usually not when he wants something but rather when he doesn’t want something… like he is tired of the ball sitting a certain way or whatever… he just starts squawking! Oh boy! He is going to be surprised when he comes home! Haha! He’ll be fine! We were actually glad to send him back to the caregivers so he could go to bed this morning!!! :)
When we got there this morning and set up our play area Jerry set up the tripod and put the camera on it… Alex was right at it! He looked so cute bending down to look through the viewfinder… we showed him how to wake a picture by pushing down the button part way to focus it and then pushing it the rest of the way to take the picture! Sadly, he took about 20 of them and they were all bad… it was on the wrong setting! Anyways, we took video of it, but since he had the camera, we have no pictures of it! J When we get home we will try it again, and use Jerry’s camera to photograph our budding photographer!
I remember when Alex figured out that if he “cried” we responded… Alex would do it just to see what we would do, he would faker cry (one cry) and then stop and look at us. After the 3rd time… Jerry and I just thought it was hilarious and would laugh at him… He kept trying it for a few days, but soon stopped it… today Alex still does the same stuff… he tests us over and over and over! It is so critical that we are consistent… Alex has even started begging “please!” when he wants something when we say no… Its going to be fun around here in another week or so! Ha!
We just came home today… it was SOOOOOO hot outside that even the breeze was like it was coming from the hot hair dryer! Just sitting there playing/holding Anthony, I had sweat rolling down my back! Yuck!!!! It was the same this afternoon even with more of a breeze! Ugh! We were soooo very happy to come home to our AC unit! We made pierogis for lunch with spaghetti sauce. Then we had a few M&Ms! Yesterday we bought a little bag of them at the market yesterday. They are so funny! They taste the same but they are fatter… more the shape of a skittle! It’s so funny to see the packages in Russian! We mostly rested… I read a few Bible stories to Alex and then he watched a Veggie-tale on forgiveness and being kind to one another. The next thing we knew it was time to go again!
When we got to the babyhouse there was another couple just leaving. They are from Ontario Canada! I forgot their names, but we will see them again tomorrow and we will chat some more. They are visiting a baby boy and have a daughter from Petro already! So that is neat! This was day 3 for them.
Anthony was in a much better mood this afternoon. He still tried to be fussy a few times but we decided that we would just say “No!” and take him away from the situation so he couldn’t fuss at it anymore! We had to do it about 3 times I think! Little squirt! We made him sit some more… we prop him in front of one of us, between our legs and give him some toys. That way he can’t really fall over again. he can wobble though, but he tries to stay up so he can play. Alex fell again, shocker! He scraped his knee today! He was fine, but he needed some attention! Soon he was off running and playing again! he went for a walk with Olga and Misha to the “chocolate” store… he brought us a drink! :) We tried the baby puffs again today… he loves them but every time we put one in him mouth he gets a horrible look on his face, like he is going to cry… but soon he has his little bird mouth open again and he is leaning forward for another one! We have been singing songs and making Anthony move to the songs a bunch lately… he is still so stiff, but I think he is starting to loosen up. If he’s not mad us for making him do things he doesn’t want to!! Ha! It has been so hot out that we take Anthony’s pants and socks off. So he goes around in his onsie! It’s so cute! He has such little legs! At least they seem little to us! He will probably be monster size next to Dylan though, when we get home! Today when Anthony went back in, Olga said we did not need to put his pants back on, so off he went, little legs sticking out!
We came home, and it took us quite a while to cool off! Alex took a nap. At about 6:30 we went to dinner at the Dixie Pub in the atrium. It was really good! We ordered Pesto and a Burrito without the beef. It was very tasty! Different than what we have at home, but very good! They also have Crust Rings of Squid!!!! *shutter* sounds gross to me… but somebody must like it. :) They now have a menu in English, hilarious English, but English! That was nice! We will probably go back!
We think Luba might come over tonight… not sure!
For those who might be interested… I have now taken over 20,000 photos with my camera that I have had for 4 years! Last time we were in Kaz I took over 4000 pictures on the trip, this time I suspect it will be slightly less, since we probably will not go to the museum and take all the pictures there that we took, or take all those pictures at the layover in Atrau, when we thought we were in Uralsk, because we didn’t understand the people over the intercom on the plane… We will see! :) So far I have taken just over a thousand pictures… we are just about on target! Hee hee hee. Although this time I have 2 cute little boys to photograph!
More tomorrow!
Hot! Hot! Hot!
Isn't this a most precious and innocent sight!!! Sweet babies!
Such a ham! He was actually in a time out for something. So cute!!
One smile...
the start of a fuss....
Here's our mini-fuss-budget! Isn't that awful!!!
Content to just chew on that crazy book.
Showing Anthony all the things that can be done with stacking cups!
Trying out the ear cups on Anthony!
I just liked this shot of his little bahoney!
Can you tell we are hot!!?
The puff eating face! Isn't that hilarious!? But he wants more!
Can you see the sweat!!!?
Our Russian M&Ms!
One smile...
the start of a fuss....
Here's our mini-fuss-budget! Isn't that awful!!!
Content to just chew on that crazy book.
Showing Anthony all the things that can be done with stacking cups!
Trying out the ear cups on Anthony!
I just liked this shot of his little bahoney!
Can you tell we are hot!!?
The puff eating face! Isn't that hilarious!? But he wants more!
Can you see the sweat!!!?
Our Russian M&Ms! 
Friday, July 18, 2008
Baby Exercises! (day 9)
Last night when I was about to go to bed, I heard this awful screaming outside, I knew it was a kitten… I am a sucker for kittens. So I went to the kitchen window and looked out… a minute later, here came this TINY little kitten walking out into the driveway! It was black with little white paws! So cute! It was sooo small! There was a young couple outside with a bigger cat… I thought maybe it was the mommy cat… not sure though, I am guessing not, since they kind of spat at one another! The young lady, picked up the kitten, but soon put it down because it was trying to get away. I went to bed then…
Our visit was pretty uneventful. We just played and tried to do some exercises with Anthony that a friend suggested… but he is so stiff that I feel like I am going to hurt him! He just doesn’t want to move his limbs freely! Silly boy! His legs are pretty good, but those arms and shoulders are not quite there yet! We will have to keep working on him! Alex really like Anthony, he came over and showed him some stuff a little and then went back to playing on the slide for the rest of the visit! We got some more giggles out of him… we have figured our several different things we can do to make him giggle… one is my hair… I dangle it just above his face and when he touches it, I pull back and make a silly noise! He thinks it is hilarious and giggles like crazy!
We stopped at the Kamelot for lunch… you guessed it, salad and soup, Alex got potatoes. Then we walked home… where we found little baby kitty wandering around… we had to pick him up and hold him for a minute! Alex is so funny! It was like he was scared of it! But it was so tiny! We got some pictures of him with it. Good thing we aren’t any where near home… I might have brought it home! Romeo and Tiger would NOT have been happy about it! A baby kitten and a baby human!!! Just too much!!! :)
Alex took a nap and we had to wake him to go to our second visit with Anthony. Misha brought Alex a little plastic truck to play with in the sand box. Alex was very excited about that! We hardly saw him for the afternoon visit. Olga was working on translating the book of questions for the doctors and caregivers. It will be fun to see what they have to say about Anthony… he is so much younger than Alex was, so the answers are going to be quite a bit different I assume.
We sat under the awning that had a rug on the floor, we put our sheet on top and it is much more comfy! But after a while the caregivers brought all the 2 year olds out to play a little… they stripped them down to their underwear or shorts and then another caregiver brought them all water! It was the cutest thing to see them all sit on the floor and drink their water from coffee mugs! We kept trying to sneak pictures of them! It wasn’t working too well, but we got a few! :) Oh! We moved to the other covered thing so they could have their rug back. :)
Anthony was again fussy this afternoon… oh dear… “nyet” just doesn’t cut it! We are actually starting to feel like “Groundhog day” already! This is really bad! We love traveling you know, but I am actually homesick! I want to just take my baby and go home already! Next Thursday is our 14th day of visitation, so they can apply to the court for our pre-court. I hope that they fit us in right away… like the next day! That would be nice! We will see though.
Yesterday was court for our Belgian friends, they said it lasted 2 hours but was not bad. So today should have been “gotcha day” for little Askhat! So that is very exciting! I bet they had an awesome day today! We are going to meet them on Sunday to play at the indoor playground. It will be fun to hear about it all from them.
I am so tired… so I will continue the stories tomorrow! :)
Our visit was pretty uneventful. We just played and tried to do some exercises with Anthony that a friend suggested… but he is so stiff that I feel like I am going to hurt him! He just doesn’t want to move his limbs freely! Silly boy! His legs are pretty good, but those arms and shoulders are not quite there yet! We will have to keep working on him! Alex really like Anthony, he came over and showed him some stuff a little and then went back to playing on the slide for the rest of the visit! We got some more giggles out of him… we have figured our several different things we can do to make him giggle… one is my hair… I dangle it just above his face and when he touches it, I pull back and make a silly noise! He thinks it is hilarious and giggles like crazy!
We stopped at the Kamelot for lunch… you guessed it, salad and soup, Alex got potatoes. Then we walked home… where we found little baby kitty wandering around… we had to pick him up and hold him for a minute! Alex is so funny! It was like he was scared of it! But it was so tiny! We got some pictures of him with it. Good thing we aren’t any where near home… I might have brought it home! Romeo and Tiger would NOT have been happy about it! A baby kitten and a baby human!!! Just too much!!! :)
Alex took a nap and we had to wake him to go to our second visit with Anthony. Misha brought Alex a little plastic truck to play with in the sand box. Alex was very excited about that! We hardly saw him for the afternoon visit. Olga was working on translating the book of questions for the doctors and caregivers. It will be fun to see what they have to say about Anthony… he is so much younger than Alex was, so the answers are going to be quite a bit different I assume.
We sat under the awning that had a rug on the floor, we put our sheet on top and it is much more comfy! But after a while the caregivers brought all the 2 year olds out to play a little… they stripped them down to their underwear or shorts and then another caregiver brought them all water! It was the cutest thing to see them all sit on the floor and drink their water from coffee mugs! We kept trying to sneak pictures of them! It wasn’t working too well, but we got a few! :) Oh! We moved to the other covered thing so they could have their rug back. :)
Anthony was again fussy this afternoon… oh dear… “nyet” just doesn’t cut it! We are actually starting to feel like “Groundhog day” already! This is really bad! We love traveling you know, but I am actually homesick! I want to just take my baby and go home already! Next Thursday is our 14th day of visitation, so they can apply to the court for our pre-court. I hope that they fit us in right away… like the next day! That would be nice! We will see though.
Yesterday was court for our Belgian friends, they said it lasted 2 hours but was not bad. So today should have been “gotcha day” for little Askhat! So that is very exciting! I bet they had an awesome day today! We are going to meet them on Sunday to play at the indoor playground. It will be fun to hear about it all from them.
I am so tired… so I will continue the stories tomorrow! :)
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